Help dealing with hunger

Hi folks,
Not sure if this was the right place to post this, but it was my best guess. Please don't be mad, mods.

I notice that I am having a lot of trouble with feeling hungry. For now, I am on top of it, but I don't want this trend to continue because I won't always have such willpower. Any advice the members can give would be very welcome. I do notice a couple of trends about when I'm hungry.

I usually have a bowl of cereal for breakfast (Raisin Bran Crunch or something similarly innocuous.) I eat around 7 am. By 9:30 or so, I'm hungry again and need to hold on till noonish.

I eat my dinner (usually baked chicken breast and some veggies) around 6:30. Usually bedtime is 9:30 or so. I often find that I'm hungry before bedtime, particularly if my husband, who is also trying to lose weight, eats later than I do. (He's a night owl, so this isn't uncommon.)

At my height/weight, I can only eat 1500 calories or so per day to lose weight, and that's if I'm exercising (which I'm gradually increasing, but I really don't have much cardio stamina just now.) I feel like I don't have the calories to spare for extra snacking. What can I do to keep myself from wrecking my day's work?

I think for breakfast, you can either change what you are eating or try to eat later. Try a mix of fruit and protein (cottage cheese and pinneapple, apple and peanut butter, hard boiled egg and???). That's just my personal opinion on what keeps me fuller longer.

For dinner, it sounds to me like you are eating the right things that should keep you full, but maybe you need to play around with new things or change meal times or portion sizes?

If the hunger is just in the head though, brushing my teeth and going to bed early tends to help! A cup of tea near bedtime helps me, too. Or a cup of hot chicken broth. Or just plain water!

My go to snack when I dont have calories to spare is baby carrots. at 35 calories a serving they work well for me. I also have a "first breakfast" and second breakfast. as soon as I wake up I make a smoothie which is about 250-300 for the whole thing. Then a little later I eat some dry cereal. For lunch HALF my plate is veggies. a salad, or carrots, or greenbeans. Veggies for me are a great way to fill up without eating too many calories. I saw an amazing lunch on pinterest I can't wait to try. It was a plate of lettuce, Then a tomato cut up with a serving of chicken salad inside the tomato.... my post count is too low to post a picture or link.... argh...

Cereal doesn't cut it for breakfast. Protein & Fibre is where it's at. People have this problem with eating non-traditional breakfast food at breakfast but it's worth it to give you the energy & fullness you need to get you through the morning.

Personally, I eat breakfast once I get to work - not sure if this is an option for you but it's very adaptable. I microwave a scrambled egg (just add one little milker & a tiny bit of salt & pepper to one egg) and then chow down on a bunch of veg like peppers & cucumbers. You can also make a breakfast salad - baby spinach with whatever veg & throw a fried egg on top (spray oil) with a squeeze of lemon over it all (obviously easier to do if you're at home).

I'm not sure how I feel about a bunch of carbs in the morning (apparently it spikes your insulin and effects how you digest your food throughout the rest of your day) but if you like your grains first thing then why not try switching to oatmeal? That is, the good kind - straight up oats that you can add your own taste too (oats, cut up apple, cinnamon, salt, a pinch of brown sugar, a milker or two, throw in microwave et voila). The boxed kind typically has soooo much sugar added so best to make your own.

I've also been singing the praises of Greek yogurt - can have 18g protein per serving which will help to keep you more satiated (throw some granola on top and a couple berries and I bet this will keep you fuller longer than your cereal).

So why do you need to hold on 'till noon? Can you not sneak a banana or granola bar or some other simple item to quell the hunger? It's not a great idea to let yourself stay so hungry because given the chance (i know i do) you'll binge on whatever first chance you get.

Btw, i'd venture to say that most people eat 3 meals plus at least two snacks throughout the day. Why do you feel you can't do this on 1500 calories? That's about how much I'm eating and I typically have 3 meals plus snacks. Perhaps your portion sizes for your actual meals are too large and thus taking up the majority of your calorie count?

Do you drink your calories? Try switching to just water (or club soda, to which i'm addicted) to save calories if that's the case.

I guess I can't really think of a reason why 1500 calories would be maxed out after a bowl of raisin brain, a baked chicken breast & some veggies, there must be something you're not telling us :P

__________________

If you change nothing, nothing will change.

Last edited by kaybee1 : 04-07-2014 at 11:10 PM.
Reason: added another thought

My experience is like yours. I was starving shortly after breakfast. Switching to a protein breakfast solved it for me-either a vanilla protein shake (low carb, low fat), or omelet/2 egg/2 whites with salsa. I like kaybee1 idea about including fiber to stay full.

Are you drinking enough water? As tedious as it can be, it very helpful with avoiding hunger. I drink 2 liters/day religiously, half of which is first thing in the morning. Keep up your great work!

On days when I eat a low protein, high carbohydrate breakfast I will get hungrier sooner than I would if I ate something with more protein but I don't always feel like having a ton of protein in a meal. So I just sit with the hunger. It's not going to kill you and it will make your lunch extra tasty.

__________________
"Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations." - Alan Watts

Roses there's so much information you do not tell us in order to respond easily to your post. I recommend you take a read through my blog in the link below. YOu should find some answers or clues to your predicament.

There could be other factors but unless you tell us more its all a stab in the dark.

I do think its probably more likely you are not eating enough calories or the quality of your carbs is not good enough. Go for Lower GI carbs to make the energy in them satisfy you longer. But generally protein is a good idea with every meal.

I don't really stay hungry.....I just crash a few hours after breakfast and it's driving me crazy! I like the posts here about having protein in the morning. Maybe protein will help the same with energy?

Your breakfast is making your hungry rather than keeping you full. You need to add some good protein to this, personally everything in the cereal aisle is processed food that should be eaten for dessert, that's how much sugar it has in it. I would rather skip breakfast all together than eat cereal... I guarantee you that you will be less hungry at lunch time if you skip it. As a matter of fact, some people who practice intermittent fasting do skip breakfast every day and they're fine.

I do eat breakfast, but it has to be full of protein and just a little bit of carbs. I like to throw in veggies right off the bat so I'm most likely to scramble a couple of eggs with spinach and cheese and a slice of whole wheat toast. If I eat this at 9am I can go until 2 or 3 pm without even thinking about lunch.

__________________

"No matter how developed you are in any other area of your life, no matter what you say you believe, no matter how sophisticated or enlightened you think you are, how you eat tells all." - Geneen Roth

I don't really stay hungry.....I just crash a few hours after breakfast and it's driving me crazy! I like the posts here about having protein in the morning. Maybe protein will help the same with energy?

Protein and fat.

__________________

"No matter how developed you are in any other area of your life, no matter what you say you believe, no matter how sophisticated or enlightened you think you are, how you eat tells all." - Geneen Roth

Well not all cereal is bad. The first part of my diet was corn flakes and milk and i generally got through to lunch without drama.

1 cup cornflakes and 1 cup milk, Actually i added a pinch of sugar. There is protein in milk and fat. In the end, i try to put more protein in my breakfast because through the day i was having a hard time getting the total proteins up. Its not so easy if you don't eat meat. Anyway i switched to egg on toast, fruit and yoghurt but i don't always want an egg to be honest. And i certainly don't want to eat an egg everyday.

Well not all cereal is bad. The first part of my diet was corn flakes and milk and i generally got through to lunch without drama.

1 cup cornflakes and 1 cup milk, Actually i added a pinch of sugar. There is protein in milk and fat. In the end, i try to put more protein in my breakfast because through the day i was having a hard time getting the total proteins up. Its not so easy if you don't eat meat. Anyway i switched to egg on toast, fruit and yoghurt but i don't always want an egg to be honest. And i certainly want to eat an egg everyday.

But the stewed fruit and yoghurt with a tsp of mixed seeds is nice.

Well technically no food is bad, but cereal is just about the worst kind of breakfast I could give my own body. I'm not anti-food but usually when someone says "I had cereal for breakfast and then I was starving an hour later" it's because cereal was a BAD choice in terms of keeping them satisfied until lunchtime.

Wow, corn flakes with sugar? The recommended breakfast of 1982!

__________________

"No matter how developed you are in any other area of your life, no matter what you say you believe, no matter how sophisticated or enlightened you think you are, how you eat tells all." - Geneen Roth

It is great that you are identifying your patterns of when you are hungry correlating with the particular foods you are eating. Keep doing this as we are all different.

A question, are you sure that it is hunger, not appetite? Is your body needing food or do you just want to eat? This is a big issue for me. I have to be sure that I realize the difference.

I have found that eating a low carb diet greatly reduces my hunger. Just wanting to eat is another matter and sometimes I just have to realize that I want to eat and it has nothing to do with hunger. As other posters have said, the carbs that you are eating may be increasing your hunger. Keeping a food log that notes when you are hungry can help you figure out what foods reduce hunger and which do not.